In our earlier U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,359, we have disclosed a method for the production of dispersion hardened metal alloys in which a colloidal suspension is formed of the particles of the second phase in a salt solution of the metal alloys, the particles of the second phase being non-reactive with the metals and their salt solutions, and to the colloidal suspension a deglomerating agent is optionally added. The solution is then sprayed to form atomized particles, and after removal of the solvent, the atomized particles are reduced to form powders of the metal matrix with the particles of the second phase integrated therein.
Metal alloys, particularly superalloys for structural parts of complicated shape which are resistant to high temperatures, such as turbine blades or similarly complicated shaped bodies, frequently contain highly reactive elements such as titanium, chromium, aluminum and the like. Upon the conversion of such metal alloys into a metal powder, according to the method in the above patent, mixed oxides are produced which are difficult if not impossible to reduce to the metal state. The oxides are produced upon the removal of the solvent or of the water of crystallization.